The 10 Best Food Dehydrators in 2022 For Your Kitchen- Buyer’s Guide

Is It Worth Buying a Dehydrator?

Buying already dehydrated snacks from supermarkets is easy and convenient but also expensive and you can never be sure of the hygiene rendered during the dehydration and packaging process. But the good news is if you preserve your food at home your in full control of the hygiene. Also, you can always make a snack when you feel like it.

Dehydrators offer a remarkable solution when it comes to dehydrating foods that are flavorful and healthy. If you like to save meats and veggies for future utilization, you will most definitely profit by a dehydrator.

Additionally, these devices are ideal for families that need to give nutritious snacks to their kids. If you are thinking about whether owning a dehydrator is worth it, then just take a look at their types, functions to help make up your mind.

Different Uses of Dehydrators?

Using hot air dehydrators dries food and preserves it for either immediate or future consumption. These big boys are capable of a whole lot more like we’re yet to see.

Fruit Preservation: pineapples, oranges, apples preserve their flavors when dehydrated and get a crunchy texture to them that make them undeniably delicious.

Yogurt Making: It shouldn’t get complicated when in need of making yogurt. Rather all you’ve got to do is set the right temperatures with your dehydrator, set the right time for the entire process and you’ll get yourself delicious yogurt.

Jerky Making: Now the most popular dehydrator usage is making jerky. The meat is marinated in a sauce of your choice, then it’s cut into long strips and put into the dehydrator for drying. The end results of these meat strips are then kept for later use and consumption.

Fruit Leather Making: Kids of all ages enjoy Fruit leather. The good news is it is easy to make fruit leather with a dehydrator, you just use a non-stick sheet on the trays such that the fruit leather is easy to remove.

Drying BerriesDried berries are rich in antioxidants and these make a great snack anytime. Simply wash the berries to get rid of any dirt or dust and put them in the dehydrator for the required time

Chips: With the many recipes online just search for any you want and replicate to get a rich flavor. There are many varieties of veggies and fruits you can make in dehydrators. The popular ones are kale chips, zucchini chips, orange chips, banana chips, to mention but a few.

Drying Nuts: you have to overnight soak the nuts before dehydration. When completely dry, you can keep them or eat them when you like. Salted nuts are rich in nutrients and are delicious too.

Herbs dehydration: Ground up herbs are delicious with salads, bread, veggies and much more. All you have to do is dehydrate up using the dehydrator and then grind them for later use.

Home dehydration doesn’t favor all foods that include many dairy products like whole eggs, milk, cheese, and butter. Avacado and olives are also not suitable for dehydrating.

Types of Dehydrators

Many companies are selling dehydrators today. Every company has a different approach to how a dehydrator should work and be designed. Though the principle behind each dehydrator is the same, they come with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Vertical Flow Food Dehydrators – Stacked Trays

These dehydrators are simple in design: The stacked trays make the chamber, well as the fan at either the top or base of the unit circulates the air throughout. In Comparison with the horizontal-flow dehydrators, vertical-flow units have are smaller and cost less. there is an option of even expanding the drying capacity in some vertical-flow dehydrators by purchasing extra trays. The majority of vertical dehydrators are round and feature trays that stack one on top of another than sliding into the tray slides. This means you can’t dry food thicker than the depth of the tray. The vertical dehydrator lid is on the top of the unit, therefore you can’t remove a tray from the bottom unless you remove the ones above it. 

This dehydrator type is ideal for solid foods and batch preparations. Even though they can’t handle trays of liquids for instance fruit leather.

Horizontal Flow Food Dehydrators – Slide-in Trays

This dehydrator type looks like a small convection oven, and it’s made either stainless steel or plastic. Unlike the vertical units, horizontal flow dehydrators have got fans that draw air across the trays and through the back of the units. Many of the models have tray doors and slides on the side to enable you load and remove tray contents without removing all the trays. Horizontal dehydrators also come in all sizes from small all the way up to large floor models.  With this style of a dehydrator, it costs more and consumes more space than vertical-flow units.

How to choose a dehydrator

Dehydrators involve little more than a low-watt heating element, a fan, and airflow. There are a couple of things to keep in mind when you are looking for a dehydrator. It’s a great idea to be open and aware of all the options so you can make the best decision:

Size & Capacity

When picking a dehydrator you should make sure that it is going to fit in the space available. Take into consideration all the dimensions of the unit – front to back, top to bottom, to make sure it’s going to fit in the space you have.

A lot of time is put into preparing and then drying your own food, and the results shrink dramatically. So you need to be able to dehydrate a lot all at once. But it doesn’t mean you may deal with a giant unit. Preferably dehydrators you should strike a good balance of bulk and drying volume.

If you are to dry a few herbs for cooking, a small unit is enough. but if you want to dry large produce like yogurt, granola then you may need a large unit to handle the volume.

Accessories

 

Extra accessories like fruit-roll trays and fine-mesh mats are handy for your dehydrator. Like for instance, the Fine-mesh mats help keep small items like herbs from falling through the trays. Also other than just making fruit leather, the fruit roll trays are handy for campers to dehydrate lightweight meals. With some companies including these accessories with the dehydrator, others charge extra for them. So you’ve got to know how you’ll use your dehydrator.

Temperature settings

Different food types have their own temperature requirements when it comes to drying. Most dehydrators range from 90 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, which is favorable to dry most foods. You should stay within the correct temperature range for the particular type of food you’re drying. For instance, you’ll run the risk of case hardening where the surface dries quickly and prevents moisture from evaporating when you try to dehydrate veggies and fruits above 140 degrees.

Fish and meat need the highest temperature setting on your dehydrator, around 160 degrees. Most fruits and vegetables dry within125 and 140 degrees. Nuts, flowers, and herbs dry well with low temperatures of 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wattage

In lay man’s language, it is the amount of power being released. The lower the wattage, the less energy a unit uses and the longer it takes to get the job done. The higher the wattage units more quickly the drying process and are more powerful, though they are also more expensive to purchase and run.

Even Drying

It’s too much stressing to rotate and rearrange trays, therefore, the best dehydrators are ones that evenly dry food. When your dehydrator circulates well air it saves on the amount of work you invest through the drying process. The best results are from round vertical-flow dehydrators with the motor at the base. The heat rises, and a bottom-mounted motor pushes hot air where it naturally wants to go. The top-mounted dehydrators find it hard to push heated air down to the lower trays and these require more rotation and attention.

Noise

All dehydrators use a fan, so if you can’t stand the sound of a room fan on high speed you’ve got to take the noise factor into consideration. Though you can opt to run the dehydrator in another room if it’s possible if not then you can opt for a quieter dehydrator or better still run the dehydrator at night.

Cleaning

Most dehydrator trays are made of plastic and can mean to be a tag of war to wash because of lots of crannies and nooks to clean. But as common knowledge, plastic trays aren’t safe to run through the dishwasher, because the excess heat can warp them if not removed before the heat intensifies. An easier trick would be you to place them in the sink, soak them in hot soapy water and use a dish brush.

Automatic shutoff

Dehydrating times vary by batch, so the automatic switch-off feature is useful if you have a lot of experience dehydrating. Otherwise, in case the machine goes off before the food is fully dried, you risk spoilage or mold growth. Literally, there’s no such thing as overdrying from a food preservation view. But snacks like fruit leather are more enjoyable when they’re still a bit chewy, and dried to a crisp.